FIRST NATIONAL INDIAN SCHOOL:
THE CHOCTAW ACADEMY
By Ethel McMiUan
After aome research in the library of the Oklahoma Hietorial
Society which had led to the realization that the first school for
Indian boys beyond the elementary level was located in Scott
County, Kentucky, near Georgetown, further interest led to the
library of the University of Kentucky. Here data of such value was
found concerning this early venture in education that an effort was
made to locate the site of the school?
Following with care the directions gathered, the way led through
that ideal farming area of Central Kentuclry over roads first built
soon after the War of Independence as macadamized pikes, today
as modernized highways, they are still bordered by those self-same
sturdy stone fences now bedecked by lichen and moss but intact.
Soon the gateway of a rolling blue grass pasture was reached and
there on a not distant rise stood one of the five original buildings
which had housed the Choctaw Academy. Rot far away was another,
both of which were constructed of limestone with heavy oak window
frames, abutters, flooring, and doors under good wooden shingle
roof0.
Just this side the second structure had stood the two-story
brick house around which the school had centered, its fireplace still
atanding and its foundation now doing service for a modern frame
house. Above on the left the land rises and there until a few
.years ago were evidences of where had stood the other two etone
buildings which completed the housing of the Academy.
The writel' wishes to express her gratitude and acknowledgment for the
adstance furnished by the University of Kentucky from first enquiry through the
march for materials, and making possible the visit to the site escorted by Ezra L.
Gillis, Director of the Department of Source Materials. Courtesies were
far beyond
that which could have been expected, even to supplying a camera. .
Acknowledgment is also due Horace G. Gaines, son of the family who owns the
Kentucky faim where the Academy site is located. He pointed out the location of
the buildings no longer standing, took the pictures, and otherwise extended every
conddention.
The original letter bearing the signatures of Thomas Henderson and Richard
M. Johnson, used as an illustration in this article, is a part of the Choctaw Indian
collection and library belonging to Mr. Lee F. Harkins, of Tulsa Much a reciation and thanks are given Mt Harkiis for his interest and kindness in &%an
of this rare original item.
In the corn ilation of this article, the writer wishes to acknowledge, also, the
history of this famous Indian school (listing the names of many Indian students
there who became leaders in the Indian Territory) in Carolyn Thomas Foreman's
intorusting contributions, "The Choctaw Academy," published in ChrmicEu of Oklahoma, Vols, M (No. 4), 1X (No. 4), and X (No. 1).
Nearby was found the land-mark so often mentioned in references to the school and known as the "Blue Spring." And blue it
ia as it rises out of the depths and fills a wide quiet pool, well
walled with steps leading down from two sides.' A clear stream,
also deep blue, issues and finds its way3 among over-hanging trees
through a pasture typical of this far-famed region where quiet
cattle graze, oblivious of the fact that more than a century ago
hundreds of Choctaw and other Indian lads, from that faraway
section later known as the Deep South, roamed the same area even
as they, and drank from the same blue stream between lessons given
by an excellent school master, unaware that for many of them this
environment was to determine their careers as leaders among their
own people with recognition in affairs of state. All of which was to
directly influence the culture of the State of Oklahoma.
After having returned to the highway, or pike, close by near
a settlement known as Great Crossings, a comfortably placed Baptist
church, built well of brick and cared for with due respect, made
one consider whether this might not have been the very building
in which these youths worshipped, for they did attend church each
Sunday and their school was sponsored by the Baptist churches of
Central Kentucky, known as the Elkhorn Association, as well as by
the national Baptist group.
And why had the name Great Crossings been applied to this
well-to-do neighborhood t I n the accounts read, one had observed
with curiosity that Choctaw Academy was located near a place of
this strange name. It must be noted that to Kentucky came the first
settlers who had the hardihood to break through the eastern mountains and that this well favored region was the game preserve of
those who had held the prior claim. Hence wild game waa abundant,
so much so that the buffalo roamed through a t will and made a roadway, or trace, in their migrations from the far south north of the
Ohio River, which at this point crossed a branch of the Elkhorn
River. I t was indeed Great Crossings for the vast herds that had
passed as well as for the youths just come.
But whence came this school t What purpose did it serve t Of
these questions the first pressed hardest for answer.
A great wave of religious enthusiasm rolled over this section
of Kentucky soon after the arrival of the first settlers, for these
earnest people sensed that their young folks must be saved from the
infidelity being rapidly spread by the then prevailing influence of
the French who had recently so gallantly come to our aid in the War
for Independence. From 1790 to 1801 this fervor increased until it
culminated in great revival meetings. As a result ardent interest
XThis spring is said from earliest references to be bottomless. Reliable information mtatu that during a recent droath (1947) from this source came the
water supply for nearby Georgetown.
spread not only to our own people on the rapidly expanding frontier,
for they were in need of religious direction, but to the Indians; for
now that British influence among them was no longer supreme, concern for their welfare arose, By 1800, the Baptist church was ready
to assume obligations not only for sending missionaries to the frontier
but to the Indians. The Elkhorn Amociation made up of all the
Baptist churches of the Great Crossings area led in the movement.
A few years later the stimulating influence of Luther Rice, a great
missionary leader recently returned from India where he had labored
in association with the renowned Adoniram Judson, so inspired them
that they influenced the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Baptist
Society to write to the various government agents among the Indians
suggesting that the English language be introduced in preparation
for the teachings of Christ and that they use their influence to have
some of the Indians send their children among the whites to be
sch~oled.~
As a result of this invitation by 1818 at Great Crossings in the
home of Colonel Richard M.Johnson, an Indian school was in progress.
By the next May the Western Monitor, issue of May 18, 1819, states
that, "The Baptist Missionary Society meeting which was scheduled
to meet at Frankfort on the 2nd, has been postponed to the thirtyfirst at the home of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, when the young
Indians will undergo an examination.
Meanwhile a second invitation had been extended through the
Indian Agents to parents to send their children to this region for
instruction.
The movement spread as is evidenced by the Baptist Association
of Missouri having presented a petition in December of 1818 to the
House of Representatives making known their desire to assist in
schooling the Indians and requesting "Aid and assistance."
2 "In 1816 the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Baptist Society for propagating the gospel among the heathen .
wrote a circular letter to the Indian
Agents suggesting the introduction of the English Language among the Indians
and so far as practicable habits of civilization as preparation for spreading the
gospel among them."-Leland Winfield Myer, The Life and Times of Colonel Richard
M. Johnson (Columbia University Press, 1932), p. 3%.
"The Baptist Church. .
at Great Crossings, Scott Co., Ky, was organized
on
May 28, 29, 1785, seven years before Kentucky was admitted into the
Union as a State, while it was yet a part of Fincastle County, Va."
...
..
....
*
*
*
*
a
"'At a church meeting held a t the Big Crossing on Saturday and Sunday, the 28th
and 29th of May, 1785, present Brethren Lewis Craig, John Taylor, Richard Young,
Samuel Deadmon, as helps called for, who proceeded to constitute the following members into a church, to be called the Church at the Great Crossing, when the Philadelphia confession of faith was adopted; Wm. Cave, James Suggett, Sr., Robert Johnson, Thomas Ficklin, John Suggett, Julius Gibbs, Robert Bradley, Bartlett Collins,
Jemima Johnson, Susanna Cave, Sarah Shipp, Caty Herndon (or Bohannon), Jane
Herndon, Hannah Bradley, Betsey Leeman, Betsey Collins.' "-J. N. Bradley, History
of the Great Crossings Baptist Church (Georgetown, Ky., 1925), pp. 78.
s l b i d , p. 352
First National Indian Training School: The Choctaw Academy
55
I n the following February Colonel Johnson, now a Representative
in Congress from Kentucky, likewise presented a petition from the
Baptist Board of Foreign Missions under direction of the General
Convention of the Baptist Denomination of the United States expressing their intention of establishing schools for the Indians and
praying for encouragement and financial aid. Further influence
was likewise exerted by the missionaries themselves which resulted
in its being stipulated in treaties between several tribes and the
federal government that generous portions of their annuities should
be set aside for the education of their children in mission schools.
The most notable of these was that of the Choctaws concluded on
January 26, 1825. This provided that the President should apply
annually for a term of twenty years six thousand dollars from
their annuities for the education of their children. Soon thereafter
"the chiefs requested to have this applied at some point 'distant
from the nation'." To this desire the War Department a ~ c e d e d . ~
As a result of this agreement, the Choctaw. chiefs and other
leaders of their nation at once requested their agent, William Ward,
to seek the aid of some missionary society in the education of their
children at a place distant from the nation, for in competition with
the white man they had concluded that survival depended on becoming learned in his wisdom. That same judgment made them
know this mould be most readily achieved by sending their ablest sons
to live in their midst, be schooled in their knowledge and become
proficient in its application.
Letters were written to Jacob Creath, head of the Baptist Missionary Society of Kentucky and to Colonel Richard M. Johnson who
had already made a beginning in establishing such a school. Colonel
Johnson replied offering for a certain sum "to receive and educate
on his Blue Spring farm near Great Crossings in Scott County,
Kentucky, such boys as the Indians (Choctaws) might send."= After
due consideration of this offer by the War Department and the
acceptance of a plan for the school from the Baptist Board of the
General Convention, an agreement was reached and William Ward,
their agent, duly authorized to see that a certain number of boys
'"At the beginning of the 19th Century discouragement from warfare with the
whites had brought the realization that the only way to compete with them and
survive was to become learned in their wisdom. So in the treaties educational provisions began to appear."-Mrs. Shelly D. Rouse, "Colonel Dick Johnson's Choctaw
Academy, a Forgotten Educational Experiment," Ohio Archeological and Historical
Quuterly, Vol. XXV, No. 1, 1916, Columbus, p. 88.
5 Myer, op. n't., p. 3%.
were chosen and arrangements made for their being escorted to the
appointed place.6
In Colonel Johnson's correspondence is a letter in which he
referred to the spacious buildings in which the boys would live and
work and atated that their arrival was expected on October 15, 1825.?
Thus the Choctaw Academy came into being, for though later
representatives from other tribes were in attendance, it was essentially a school of the Choctaw Nation, fittingly bearing that name,
and when their support was withdrawn it ceased to exist.
Colonel Richard Mentor Johnson was one of the sons of Robert
Johnson and Jemima Suggett Johnson who migrated from Orange
County, Virginia to Kentucky in 1779-80. The parents came as
far as Wheeling on the Ohio River and were delayed nntil severe
winter passed and they were able to travel by water to the site of
Louisville. Here Richard M. was born in 1780 while his father was
north of the Ohio with General George Rogers Clark helping to
subdue the Indians. On the return the family moved to Bryant
Station in Central Kentucky which was a stronghold for early settlers
who were willing to risk much for a chance to live in this highly desirable region. Here the mother with her five children went through
the siege when for days the Indians in large numbers lay in wait
for their certain surrender; for the water supply, an ample spring,
was outside the stockade and food stores were nearly exhausted.
8 "The Baptist Board of Missions was another valuable ally. The Baptists had
barn pioneers of religion in Kentucky; shepherded by men of ardent piety, untiring
zeal, indomitable energy of character and vigorous and well balanced intellects, in
eve7 way fitted to the then state of society in a wilderness beset with every danger
and privation, they were the first ministers to the brave, daring and noble spirits
who settled and subdued this country.
Therefore, it was deemed good policy
to put this popular denomination in charge of the new venture. The names of the
School Board and the Board of Visitors which it appointed are mentioned in many
of the histories of the times.
All were conscientious men of position and of
sturdy life and principle from Dr. Staughton, Secretary of the Baptist Board at
of rugged indiWashington, to James F. Robinson, a governor of the stat-men
vidualities."-Rouse,
op. cit., p. 91.
7 Description of Buildings as taken from report of Reverend Thomas Hendersan
in his first quarterly report of the Choctaw Academy and Missionary station, November 1, 1825, Jan. 31, 1826. (Carolyn Tbomas Foreman, "The Choctaw Academy",
Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. VI, No. 4 [Dec. 19281 p. 457) :
"He writes that there are five buildingethe first he describes as '.
The
Academy a two story stone house, 44 feet long and 2: wide, divided into four equal
rooms, two above stain and two below stairs.
he mentions the good fireplaces and the four windows of twenty lights in each room and adds that the rooms
would accommodate from 100 to 120 students.
T h e r e is one frame house, situated near the academy, with a good garden
and outhouses, suitable for a family. Tbere is a 'large three story house, situated
near the Academv, thirty feet long and twenty wide, with two fire places, and a
good Franklin stove, well calculated for the dining and lodging rooms.'
"He describes two other stone houses, two stories in height which were used
for lodging pupils and states that:
'All of the aforesaid houses are d plae
tered and finished off in good style and most admirably constructed for comfort and
convenience.'
.. .
.. ..
...
...
...
When there was no more water this mother proposed that each woman
with buckets wallr out to the apring, fill them and return, counting
on the chivalry of the enemy not to molest them. It was agreed and
led by the person who a few months before hhd borne the babe who
became Colonel Richard M. Johnson, the daring deed was accomplished. The Indians under the spell of admiration for such heroism
that night quietly withdrew. Soon it was deemed safe to go t o their
own lands and this family established themselves at what was even
then known as Great Crossings in the heart of what is today spoken
of as the Bluegrass.
Robert Johnson early showed himself to be a man of ability
worthy of confidence. Very soon after settling on his own farm he
turned its cultivation over to a responsible person and answered
the demand to survey the neighboring areas now being rapidly
organized into counties with boundaries to be defined, townsites to
be laid out, farms to be located and road lines to be run. This gave
opportunity for acquaintance with and selection of choice portions
of land for himself and ere long ownership. Thereby the foundation of the family fortune was laid. Meanwhile a highly respected
place in the esteem of the countryside had been attained and Robert
Johnson had become a leader in religion and in education, also chosen
to represent his people in the state legi~lature.~
In such a setting Richard M. Johnson grew up surrounded by
the best advantages that a rich land occupied by a well endowed,
determined people could offer. Transylvania University in nearby
Lexington gave him unusual advantages for a community so recently
transplanted. Further opportunities opened and soon admission t o
the practice of law was had. In rapid succession came political
preferment as representative in the state legislature and as congressman.
While in Washington declaration of the Second War for Independence brought the decision to volunteer to raise a regiment and
offer himself for service in the Northwest. This resulted in his
becoming the hero of the Battle of the Thames for he was credited,
though not without dispute, with killing Tecumseh, the Indian chieftan
and prophet whose loss ended the resistance of the Indians of the
Northwest. Kentucky responded by making him its idol and extending the office of U. S. Senator without opposition. The next
step was that of the vice presidency under Van Buren. But Colonel
Johnson's great ambition for the presidency was not to be attained.
Yet these preferments with the resulting opportunities were not
the source of his greatest contribution but rather his acceptance of
the offer to take over the responsibility for the education of the Choc8"Colonel Robert Johnson (the father of Colonel Richard M., James and
Major John T. Johnson)
was distinguished for that high-toned integrity and
courage which marked the age and country in which he lived."-Lewis Collins,
History of Kentucky (Louisville, Ky, l817), p. 705.
....
58
Chronicles
of
OkMwma
taw Indian youth8 For this cause early environment had given
special understanding and vital interest, for he had experienced
with his father and an older brother James as leaders in Great
Crossings church the awakening in missions and the development of
the movement under the influence of the able leaders of that day.
Concern for this movement had been kept alive through the years
that when William Ward with the authority of the War Department made the offer there was but one answer.1°
80
The vision of the zealous pioneer ministers and that of their
ardent followers, the co-operation of the Indian leaders, the underwriting of the United States Government, and the faith of the lads
themselves would have come to naught had Richard M. Johnson been
less right in the choice of the teacher who was to bring to a culmination that which had been wisely undertaken and followed through
unfalteringly. Into whose hands was to fall this ultimate responsibility? Herein was to be answered our third question : What purpose did the school serve?
It is quite likely that the selection of the master for this school
had been made before the acceptance of the superintendency for that
person was none other than Thomas Henderson, for the ten years now
closing pastor of the Great Crossings Baptist Church, whose numerQ"C0l0ne1 Johnson with his brother James was now suffering financial distress,
for on learning that the government was sponsoring an exploration of the Yellowstone country and the Missouri River they had agreed to furnish steamboats and
provisiona for the expedition; serious losses resulted."-(Klyde
H. Young and
Lamar Middleton, Heirs Apparent, New York, 1948, p. 115.) This furnished another reason for sponsoring the Academy in that there was a chance for remuneration.
10 On October 28, 1825, Colonel Johnson wrote to Thomas L. McKenney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs: "The nation of Choctaws determined on this measure,
without any solicitation on my part, and without mv knowledge; but since they
have determined to send their cihldren here, I feel a deep interest for them!'
The Kentucky Gazette of November 4, 1825 mentioned the Choctaw Academy
in these words: "We are informed that the chief men of the Choctaw Nation have
sent to the care of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, twenty-one youths, to be educated.
We also understand that very good arrangements have been made to accommodate them-and the object is to manage them in every respect as if they were the
sons of respectable farmers-they are to be taught by the Rev. Thomas Henderson
who it is believed possesses high qualifications to manage them, and to prepare
eome of the most promising to graduate in Transylvania University."
A Georgetown paper of November 4th. camed the following notice: "We have
been informed that twenty one Indian children, from the Choctaw Nation have just
amved at the Blue Spring. the residence of Col. R. M. Johnson for the purpose of
receiving an education. Notwithstanding there are at the same time sixteen or
eighteen Missionary establishments in the Nation, yet after a consultation with Agt.
Col. Wm. Ward, formerly of this county, the parents of these children preferred
sending them to the Blue Springs, a position in every way calculated to promote
their comfort and happiness; both from the locality. convenience and house room,
and the deep interest which Col. Johnson has ever taken to ameliorate their condition, together with that of the ovpressed and illiterate of every country. The
Rev. Thos. Henderson who is well fitted for the task from his learning, piety, and
industry is to be the teacher of the school. Those who feel a missionary spirit
will find a field at home for their munificence."-Myer, op. cit., p. 361.
. ...
First Notional Indicu, Training School: The Chockrro Academy
59
om abilities, admirable qualities of character, and unfailing common
sense had been well sounded. Upon him was to devolve not only
instruction but for long periods administration, since Colonel Johnson's duties in Washington permitted nothing less. So with assurance we find the newly chosen superintendent writing to the
Secretary of War: "I have engaged a man of uncommon merit
. . . . a preacher of the gospel, eminent for his literary talents and
attainments and his amiable disposition; a man of business, industrious in his habits, dignified in his deportment, and conciliatory
in his manners.""
Certainty of teaching ability above the commonplace was also expressed elsewhere.
The fact that Thomas Henderson surveyed part of the territory
of Missouri for the government as well as contributed to such needs
in the growing settlement of Cincinnati indicates that he may have
come west as a surveyor from his home in Albermarle County, Virginia, where he had been liberally educated.
Evidence of his integrity as a young man is shown by the terma
of the will of John White, also of Albermarle County, who therein
provided for the freedom of his slaves and their colonization on land
in Kentucky; this provision to be carried out by Thomas Henderson,
who fulfilled the trust by purchasing two hundred acres of land
along Green River, deeding it to the freedmen and their increase
and seeing that they were settled thereon.
So, it was a man of proven worth who was to take over the
experiment. In October, 1825, twenty-one Choctaw boys carefully
chosen from the mission schools, all still east of the Mississippi River,
arrived at Blue Spring farm to find buildings ready, furnishings
completed, text books selected, courses of study planned, regulations
made in detail from food to articles of clothing, servants agog, and
school master profoundly moved in contemplation of the serious
obligation; for not only were the abilities of these youths to be
developed and their usefulness assured but meanwhile the Office of
Indian affairs of the War Department, the Board of Baptist Mis-
11 Ronse, up. a t , p. 92.
sione, the chiefs, the parents, and Colonel Johnson were to be satisfied, as well as the committee of examiners."
Orders from Washington declared that school should open at
sunrise and continue till sunset with only Saturday afternoon off for
care of rooms and clothing and writing home. Sunday was devoted
to Bible study and devotions, fortunately the opportunities of the
well established church were at hand. Thomas Henderson spent the
evenings in his own home directing the older boys for two hours in
the study of astronomy, book-keeping, and surveying. Singing
societies, a band and a Napoleon Society were organized. The latter
for the purpose of learning the manners and customs of polite society.
After a few years it was apparent that shops for instruction in
black-smithing, shoe-making, wagon-making and tailoring should be
introduced; for as the school grew it became the more evident that
not all would become professional men, also that their people were
more and more needing knowledge in skilled labor.
As an increasing need for more teachers arose the authorities
in Washington sent down an expert in inaugurating the Lsncasterian
plan recently originated in Lancaster, England, whereby the older
boys were to teach the younger. Afte due experiment it became
evident that the adult teacher could not be thus replaced. The
forward look of Mr. Henderson and his good judgment is shown by
this making use of the now common practice of taking youth to
summer camp. For recreation and widened experience they for
two weeks in summer repaired to not far off Sulphur Spring, which
lzbThe clothing of the students was a uniform of mixed dark-grey and of blue
and white and is thus described in instructions:
1 Frock or rifle coat woolen cloth ............................................$12.00
Coat (summer) of colored domestic cotton ............................ 400
2 Pair woolen pantaloons te correspond with coat .................... 8.00
2 Pair cotton pantaloons for summer coat ................................ 5.00
4 shirts .................... ...............,............................................................. 4.00
2 pair does or Moccasins .....................
.
.
.
............................. 4.00
4 Neck handkerchiefs ........................................................................ 1.50
.......
1 Black Leather Stock ...,.................. ......
.SO
2 Pair Woolen stockings for winter ........................................ .. .SO
250
1 Hat for dress wear ........................................................................
1 Cap of linen or cloth for common wear ...................................
SO
Total............................................................................................ $42.50
books used were Emerson's Readers, Pike's Arithmetic, Kirkham'e
Grammar, the American Spelling Books, Olney's Geography, Tytler's History, Blake's
Philosophy, Colbum's Algebra and Gibson's Surveying."-Rouse, op. cit, p. 92.
. . . . The
First Naciond lndiar Training School:
The Choctaao Academy
61
later became a watering place of note as well as for a time the situation
of the school when the wood supply failed. Further evidence of
aggressiveness is shown in the use of the modern day practice of a
self-governing system then known as the l&curgus Court, wherein
the use of the grand jury and court plan of procedure was used. Its
success further attests the marked ability of the instructor. As the
good work progressed more and more boys came, not only the full
quota from the Choctaw Nation, but other tribes pressed for privileges until at times two hundred were in attendance.
Chiefs of the tribes and visitors of national distinction, among
them President Van Buren and General Cass, came to find what more
than satisfied their expectations-young men schooled in the classics
and other skilled in the manual arts. The day for examinations by
the Committee of the Board of Missions was often made a gathering
time for the community far and wide and great were the commendations. These were often held in the grove where the visit of the
Marquis de Lafayette, on his American tour, was celebrated the
year the school opened.
The great blow came when the scourge of cholera swept the
country in the summer of 1833. Fortunately Colonel Johnson was
present, for Thomas Henderson went down early in the onset. Had
anyone previously doubted the interest of the superintendent and
his ability to stand by when school maater, students, and faithful
slaves were stricken, this occasion would have proven otherwise.
Physicians and all others assisting were amazed at his fortitude and
skill. I n spite of all that was done seventeen boys were sacrified.
There is evidence on the farm today of where they were laid to rest,
their graves carefully marked with native limestone.
During the twenty years of the Academy's activity young men
who became lawyers, physicians, ministers, teachers, translators,
artisans--all understanding the white man and learned in hie wisdom-returned to their people as bearers of good will ready for
leadership in solving the problems pressing for attention.ls
13 Carolyn Thomas Foreman, "The Choctaw Academy," Chronicles of Oktahomu, Vol. M, No. 4 (December, 1928), pp. 472-473, 476-477 and Vol. IX, No. 4
(k.
1931),
pp. 407-410. Name of students are given.
Then why did Choctaw Academy pass? Immediately comes the
answer that removal of the Choctaws and other Indian tribes from
the East to their own territory, meant the re-establishment of the
mission schools and their natural outgrowth in Armstrong, Spencer and
other notable schools in the Indian Territory which made this honored
institution unnecessary. The thoughtful person will sense a more
vital reason on understanding that two years before it closed, its
loved master had insisted on release (for strength was failing) and
that when no worthy successor was found, Choctaw Academy had
served its day.
No, not its day only, for Oklahoma is now its heir, rich in the
wisdom brought by these bearers of light which their forefathers
saw they could receive only "by being schooled at a distance from
home," and handed down first by them and on from father to son
into your hands and mine.14 Thus Thomas Henderson, Richard M.
Johnson and their sponsors and co-laborers were benefactors of today's Oklahomans.
. .
14"Choctaw Academy . . . The Chief Patrons of the school were the Chocand Chickasaw who sent at tribal expense so many of their promising boys that
the school roll amounts almost to an index of the subsequent leaderan-Lester Hasgrett, A Bibliography of Constitutions and Laws of the American Indians, (Cambridge,
H u ~ a r dUniversity Presa, 1947) p. 19, fn.
taw